The automatic creation of digital 3D models from images
of real objects can be split into two main components:
the user component, which is represented by simple human
interaction and the computer component which is
represented by more or less computational complex algorithms.
In general user interfaces are directly related
to the behavior of the human interaction. Therefore we
designed the user interface as a monocular 3D modeling
system, which emphasizes the advantages of 2D segmentation
and interpretation.
Figure 11 illustrates our implemented user interface
which contains two types of windows: image viewer
and model viewer. Typically the user supplies the input
to the program by utilizing the image viewer, whereas
the model viewer is used to verify the reconstruction
progress. The bottom image preview box comprises an
overview of the captured photographs, thus a human operator
can easily select the appropriate image for the reconstruction
process.
Since the reconstruction problem is already solved a human
operator can concentrate on the segmentation and
interpretation of the scene. Therefore the general idea
of the user interface is based on the fact that humans are
clumsy at simultaneously controlling multiple degrees of
freedom. Furthermore they are not good at precise or accurate
operations in 3D, especially with a 2D interface
such as a standard monitor and mouse. In contrast to humans
computers are the better 3D operators, because they
are not limited to two eyes. Additionally, they are able to
handle multiple views simultaneously.
Due to this facts we implemented our user interface as
a monocular 3D modeling system, where the user is responsible
for the segmentation and interpretation in 2D,
while the modeling system deals with the corresponding
3D information. Another benefit of this concept is
that we obtain a full interpretation of the scene in logical
units, like windows, roofs, doors, facades etc. These are
the main differences between our user interface and those
proposed in [Debevec 1996] and [Leymarie et al. 1996].